The use of non-equilibrium plasmas for the in vivo sterilization of wounds has been discussed in Stoffels, E.; Stoffels, W.: “The healing touch of a micro-plasma”, published on http://www.phys.tue.nl. However, the in vivo sterilization of wounds requires low temperatures of the plasma and a low electromagnetic irradiation, so that the conventional plasma sources are not suitable for the in vivo sterilization of wounds.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,885 discloses a plasma spray apparatus for spraying powdery or gaseous material onto a substrate surface, e.g. for coating the substrate. However, due to the high temperature of the plasma output, this plasma spray apparatus is not suitable for the in vivo sterilisation of wounds.
A so-called plasma needle is disclosed in Stoffels, E. et al.: “Plasma needle: a non-destructive atmospheric plasma source for fine surface treatment of (bio)materials”, Plasma Source Sci. Technol. 11 (2002) 383-388. This plasma needle comprises a single electrode being disposed within a grounded metal cylinder with 1 cm inner diameter. However, the aforementioned plasma needle is not suitable for a large-area sterilisation of wounds since the outlet of the metal cylinder is very small.
Moreover, US 2004/0138527 A1 discloses a tubular suction tool for accessing an anatomic surface or anatomic space and particularly the pericardium to access pericardial space and the epicardial surface of the heart to implant cardiac leads in a minimally invasive manner are disclosed. Therefore, this reference is not pertinent to the present application.